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Interconnecting computers: Architecture, technology, and economics

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Programming Languages and System Architectures

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 782))

Abstract

Modern computer systems have a recursive structure of processing and storage elements that are interconnected to make larger elements:

  • Functional units connected to registers and on-chip cache.

  • Multiple processors and caches connected to main memories.

  • Computing nodes connected by a message-passing local area network.

  • Local area networks bridged to form an extended LAN.

  • Networks connected in a wide-area internet.

  • All the computers in the world exchanging electronic mail.

Above the lowest level of transistors and gates, the essential character of these connections changes surprisingly little over about nine orders of magnitude in time and space. Connections are made up of nodes and links; their important properties are band width, latency, connectivity, availability, and cost. Switching is the basic mechanism for connecting lots of things. There are many ways to implement it, all based on multiplexing and demultiplexing. This paper describes some of them and gives many examples. It also considers the interactions among the different levels of complex systems.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Systems Research Center, Digital Equipment Corporation, One Kendall Sq., Bldg 700, 02138, Cambridge, MA

    Butler W. Lampson

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  1. Butler W. Lampson
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Editor information

Jürg Gutknecht

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© 1994 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Lampson, B.W. (1994). Interconnecting computers: Architecture, technology, and economics. In: Gutknecht, J. (eds) Programming Languages and System Architectures. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 782. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-57840-4_21

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-57840-4_21

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-57840-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-48356-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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